With that as a backdrop and last year's embarrassing loss to Akron in the Carrier Dome not far from anyone's mind, Syracuse went out and beat the Zips on Saturday at the Carrier Dome 28-14.

It was just as Gross put it in that interview. "We're Syracuse. We should beat Akron. It's that simple."

This one was pretty simple.

After having a case of the yips in the first half and fumbling the ball three times (losing two of them), Syracuse settled down and went on to do what they are expected to do 1000 out of 1000 times vs this team.

Delone Carter ran for 174 yards and 3 TD.

The Syracuse defense put immense pressure on Akron QB Patrick Nicely to the tune of five sacks and allowed the Zips...well...zip in the rushing yards department.

AP

Greg Paulus, who struggled in his last two games, was as good as he needed to be with a 12-for-17 performance for 105 yards and a touchdown.

The fact that we are talking about what Syracuse did as opposed to what they didn't do, about says it all.

Last year's loss to Akron was an earth mover. It wasn't just a loss. It represented how far Syracuse had fallen as a program that a team like Akron had come into the Carrier Dome and had their way with Syracuse. That loss to Akron prompted ESPN to come here and ask what the heck had happened to this program and it was a big focus of that feature mentioned above.

The fact that this game won't make any headlines tomorrow is a good thing.

The fact that the home crowd, announced at 36,991, walked out of this game early content with victory instead of questioning why they even went is a good thing.

It means Syracuse did what it had to do. Beat a weaker team from a weaker conference, who came in at 1-5 and with a QB making his 2nd career start, and move on to a Halloween match up with the Big East's best team and a Top 5 ranked team in the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Beat Akron.

Because you are Syracuse.

It's that simple.

Speaking of Daryl Gross, funny what a difference a year makes.

After last year's loss to Akron, I ran into Gross outside the Carrier Dome. To put it mildly, the man was upset. He couldn't believe he had seen his football team lose a game like that. We talked in that parking lot for 15 minutes about a lot of things concerning the program and I walked away from that conversation convinced that Greg Robinson was indeed done as the head coach at Syracuse and the process to find his replacement went into overdrive once Gross got in that car to drive home after that game.

I ran into Gross in that same parking lot after this game. This time, it was a smile, a wave, and a "have a good night".

This time, his appointed successor to Robinson had done what he was supposed to do vs Akron.

Must have been quite a different drive home than the last time he pulled away from the Akron game at the Carrier Dome.

Running Game Gets Rolling....Finally

While most were watching to see if Greg Paulus would struggle again, the bigger concern I had was whether Delone Carter and this running game would finally get the engines cranking, especially against this team.

Carter responded with 174 yards on 30 carries and 3 TD. The yards and carries are both career highs for Carter.

That performance by Carter was important for a number of reasons, but namely they had to take advantage of the opportunity to get Carter going and build his confidence vs a weaker defense and for the offensive line to prove they can run block. It was too bad Antwon Bailey couldn't get in on the action as well, but the way DC3 was running, you just had to let him do his thing.

APThe timing is good as Syracuse has Cincinnati next week at the Carrier Dome. They cannot expect to get in a shootout with that team. If they are going to beat the Bearcats, it will be on the back of Delone Carter.

Plain and simple.

Syracuse won the time of possession battle vs Akron by a count of 33:39-26:19. Remember that number. Because if they are going to have any shot vs Cincinnati on the offensive side of the ball, a similar number will be needed next week.

Revolving Quarterbacks

Question: How do you diffuse a brewing quarterback controversy?

Answer: You play both of them.

All eyes were on Greg Paulus today to see how the bye week and the extra time to shake off two bad games vs West Virginia and South Florida would pay off.

Before long, all eyes were on Ryan Nassib as well.

Nassib got a significant number of snaps in this game at QB. There were several possessions where they would even alternate on downs. Paulus on first down, Nassib on second, etc.

Frank Ordonez/The Post-Standard 2009

The coaching staff has obviously been impressed by Nassib and trusted him with more of the game plan and more responsibility in this game.

As for Paulus, he was pretty good. He went 12-for-17 for 105 yards and a TD. This wasn't exactly a day he was called on to win the game for his team, especially with Delone Carter's big day, but the key thing was he didn't have another bad game, including not throwing an interception.

I asked Doug Marrone after the game if he liked how Greg responded this game after two bad performances in a row...

“Yes, there were no interceptions. He had no interceptions and he
managed the game. He was put in some tough situations. When that ball
goes over your head (on the snap), a lot of bad things can happen.”

I also asked Marrone if it was fair to call this current situation a QB rotation...“I don’t put words on it, I just know that we have different packages
for different players. We use the strengths of our players to help us
win games.”

Paulus and Nassib echoed their coach's comments that the current QB rotation was using different players in different situations.

Look, I have never been a big fan of the two-headed QB overall, but I have a beef with this particular one in this sense.

Why did Nassib run a majority of the running plays called for the quarterbacks? Paulus is clearly the better scrambler between the two and if you are going to give Nassib more time, let him throw the ball more. The one time he was allowed to air it out, he barely missed Cody Catalina on a deep throw. We didn't exactly walk out of this game with a QB controversy as Greg Paulus did what he had to do. That said, we clearly are going to see more Ryan Nassib under center.

Will the two-headed QB work against better teams than Akron?

Frank Ordonez/The Post-Standard 2009Where's Mike Williams?

Rumors floated around all week that wide receiver Mike Williams would be suspended for this game.

Some of those rumors even went as far as to say that academics was the reason why, which wouldn't be good considering his past transgressions in that department.

I talked to two different SU Athletics officials about this on Thursday. I asked both of them directly if Williams was going to be out for this game, whatever the reason. I was told by both of them that they didn't know anything about a possible suspension of Williams. One of those officials even went as far as to say that head coach Doug Marrone has been very up front about issues like this and that something like this would have been out there if it was going to happen.

About one hour before kickoff, a statement was given to the media in the press box that Williams had been suspended for this game for a violation of team rules.

Doug Marrone said this after the game about Williams' suspension.

“Decisions are made and the timing of the decisions are always made in
the best interest of the program. I believe in the privacy of the
student-athlete. I think there’s privacy to a student. I’m not allowed
to comment on an academic matter for a student. We’re not allowed tell
grades. The decisions made and the timing of the decisions are always
made in the best interest of the program, and that’s it".

Take it for what it's worth, but Williams posted a couple of interesting notes on his Facebook page this week.

"I HATE COLLEGE I CANT SEE ME DOING THIS FOR LONG.HINT HINT.-0 LMAO"

His Facebook "status" today was this: "Everyone, I am staying in school to get my degree Sorry for the false information out there."

From a football point of view, Mike Williams picked a good week to violate team rules. Akron is on the list of teams you can beat without Mike Williams in the lineup.

That list, however, is not a long one.

This game wasn't a good litmus test to see how this offense would do without Mike. As noted above, Delone Carter had a big game and that took a ton of pressure off Greg Paulus and Ryan Nassib. If Williams were out for almost any other team on the schedule short of Maine, it could have been a very, very long day for the offense.

Williams was immediately re-instated by Marrone after the game and he will play vs Cincinnati.

Look, I don't know what he did to get suspended nor do I really care to know. "Violation of team rules" could mean a ton of things. All I know is this team dodged a big bullet by having Williams out for this game and not having that really hurt the team. I don't even know if he'll understand the severity of his actions that led to suspension because the team won without him. You have to wonder if this suspension will even humble him a little bit considering the circumstances.

He is obviously THE player on this offense and, frankly, probably cost himself a huge day in the box score by sitting out against a weaker opponent by actions of his own doing (whatever they were). I even saw a leading college football writer tweet during the game that this latest suspension isn't going to help improve his NFL Draft status any.

Here's hoping this is the last time we talk about Mike Williams and it has nothing to do with another dynamic performance on the field.The Marrone Report

Funny moment in the postgame presser when I informed Derrell Smith of the accomplishment by his defense and he looked at me like I just handed him a million dollars. "Really? Zero? Wow!"

*That number above was impressive, but the pass rush was fast and furious all day. With a QB making his 2nd start and an advantage with team size and speed over Akron, you would hope it was. Syracuse recorded five sacks on the day.

*Speaking of Smith, I'm running out of ways to describe how good he plays but I'd feel really guilty if I didn't shine the spotlight his way right away once again. Nine tackles, which was a team high, three tackles for a loss, two sacks, and a forced fumble. He may have just nudged past Art Jones as the best defensive player on this team.

*As good as Smith has become, the most rapidly improving player on this team is fellow linebacker Doug Hogue. Hogue is flying to the ball and taking advantage of his time being used in blitz packages to make big plays. Five tackles, one for a loss, a sack, and a fumble recovery. He was close to nabbing two picks on the day as well, but came up just short.

*Max Suter is another guy making his presence felt in blitz and pressure packages. Seven tackles today, one for a loss, a forced fumble, and a sack. This whole defense plays hard, but he is the one who wears it on his sleeve the most.

*I have been hinting in past recaps that Marcus Sales was locking himself in as the # 2 target for Syracuse QB's. Forced into a # 1 role today, he did a good job getting open and led the way for Syracuse WR's with six catches for 61 yards. It wasn't a day where the passing game was really needed, but he did what he had to when called upon.

*Akron only converted 1-for-11 on third down.

*Syracuse outgained Akron 339-191. They had 20 first downs to Akron's 9.

*Good to see the penalty count down. SU was only flagged four times in this game.

The Dark Side

*This team has big time snap issues. Jim McKenzie or Ryan Bartholomew, there are simply too many high snaps by whomever is occupying the center position on any particular day. Bad snaps equal turnovers and there probably would have been more of those had Syracuse faced a faster defense today.

*After a bye week spent focusing on the fundamentals, particularly on cutting back on turnovers, this team had the yips in the first half. Three fumbles (two lost) and two of those were on special teams. Speaking of special teams...

*Bob Casullo must have cases and cases of Rolaids in his office.

It seems like everything has been dumped on this guy this year. Kicker issues, trick plays vs Maine, fumbles by his returners...the list goes on and on. Akron had 213 yards in return yards, including the 98-yard kickoff return for a TD. Lanes were open all day for Zips kick returners. In fact, Akron's Dashan Miller set a school record with 191 yards on the day. Factor that in with the dropsies Syracuse's returners had and the struggles by Ryan Lichtenstein, and it all adds up to another bad day and a long to-do list for Casullo. Some of this is concerning for a man of his reputation in the special teams department.

*Doug Marrone wrote off Ryan Lichtenstein's troubles to a bad pregame warm up. We'll see if that adds up to a Jake Smith starting nod for the Cincinnati game.

*Sort of hidden in a win, Syracuse's 3rd down percentage (currently 117th in the nation) won't improve much with a 2-for-9 showing on 3rd down today.

*I continue to worry about this secondary. A lot. A quarterback making his 2nd start and constantly under pressure managed to squeeze out 191 yards. Akron followed an opponent pattern of dropping the QB in shotgun and trying to pick apart the holes in the defense. The middle of the field is usually the weak spot for the SU defense, but Akron found some success working the sidelines for open receivers.

This, That, and the Other Thing

*In addition to Mike Williams, Linebacker E.J. Carter was re-instated immediately after the game after serving a suspension for violation of team rules. *In the 2nd half, Akron had a punt of six yards.On the next possession, they had a 76-yard punt, third longest in school history. Go figure.

*Derrell Smith is now tied for third all-time on Syracuse's forced fumble list with six. He has five this season alone.

*Syracuse held Akron to just 50 2nd half yards.

*Akron's kickoff return for a touchdown to begin the second half was the first for a Syracuse opponent since Rutgers ran one back in 2002, 81 games ago.

*Akron's Andre Jones became just the second player in the nation to start three positions. He started at wide receiver in this game. He has also started three games at safety this season and one at corner. He is now the fourth player in the nation to start on both sides of the ball.

*The crowd was announced at 36,991. The butts in seats count was probably 27,000 and change. Easily the smallest crowd of the season.

*The Orange "44" on the 44 yard line on the SU side of the field was much more visible this game and appears to be "done". It was OK. Not that anyone asked me, but I think it needs to be bigger.

Brent Axe is also the host of "On the Block" heard weekdays from 3-6 p.m. on ESPN Radio 1260. The show is simulcast on TV on Time Warner Cable Sports. You can listen to the show online by clicking right here